In true conspiracy theory style, it appears that the treatment for the next X-Files series is being held back from the public for reasons we don’t altogether know. Perhaps it’s the FBI? From Moviehole:

Frank Spotnitz, co-executive producer of the hit series, tells SCI FI Wire that a second feature film based on the television series is still in the works. “My deal has been done—and I’m not exaggerating—for a year and a half”. He adds, “There are other deals, and you can guess who the people are [who are] involved, and I don’t know why they’re taking so long. It’s very frustrating to me. I hoped the movie would be done now.” …

…These are things that happen between lawyers, and I’m not privy to it because it’s not my deal. But I know [stars] David [Duchovny] and Gillian [Anderson] want to do it. I know Chris wants to do it. I don’t know where the holdup is. But I hope it happens. I remain optimistic it will happen. If you’d asked me a year ago, I never would have believed it still wouldn’t be in the works at this point.”

So there’s still a desire to get it underway, but what’s the hold up? People asking for too much money? Perhaps people not even wanting to be in the story anymore? Strange since Duchovny has voiced his positives on it and says everyone is keen, and neither of the actors careers has taken off since. Why can’t they just get it done?

Well, by now most of you know that in it’s opening weekend the new Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johanson film The Island opened with a pathetic $12.4 million at the box office, finishing 4th in it’s opening weekend behind 2 other films in their 2nd week and 1 film in it’s 3rd.

The Island didn’t look like it was going to be a super blockbuster… but at the same time it looked like it had all the tools to at least to well. Great leads, a solid story and nothing else opening up against it other than the horrible Bad News Bears. It SHOULD have made $27-$33 million in it opening weekend… but it didn’t. The question is… WHY?

What kept people away from The Island? If you haven’t seen it… why did you not go? After all, it is a pretty decent film (see our review on The Video Edition Vol 2), it had big names and good looking action. What went wrong?

My only working theory right now is that the marketing sucked. It’s not that they didn’t market it enough… but the commercials and trailers could never seem to make up their mind if this was a deep thinking/moral dilemma film… or a summer action film. It had to real identity… and so the trailers just left most of us not really sure what it was we were looking at. Thus, not really being sure of what it was, it was difficult for anyone to get excited about it.

What do you think? What is your theory? Why did The Island bomb in it’s opening weekend?

Ok, you know I don’t like posting about “celebrity gossip”… but for this one I thought I’d make an exception. According to Digital Spy, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have moved in together in Pitt’s Malibu Mansion. So let the “Did they cheat while he was still with Jennifer” talk begin!

Along with adopted children Maddox and Zahara, Angelina has moved in with her Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star just twenty minutes away from Brad’s ex Jennifer Aniston’s rented apartment. Aniston is currently in Chicago filming The Breakup with Vince Vaughn but realises that she is sure to come across the couple sooner or later. A source told the newspaper: “Jennifer will return home soon from filming in Chicago. And she knows it is only a matter of time before she comes face to face with Angelina.

Jennifer only lives 20 minutes away? See… maybe they’ll come face to face… and maybe they’ll start a cat fight… and maybe, while rolling around, if they fight long enough… as Kramer in Sienfeld once suggested… they’ll kiss? Now that’s good TV folks.

By now most of you know Clint Eastwood is working on his new project Flags of our Fathers, a World War II epic. The choice of topic for his next directoral work isn’t surprising to me… but what is surprising is his choice of casting.

When you look at his list of films (especially lately), Eastwood has pretty much chosen to only work with top notch casts. I mean hell, in his last 2 motion pictures, Million Dollar Baby and Mystic River, there are no less than 5 Oscar wins for acting (Himself, Morgan Freeman, Hillary Swank, Sean Penn and Tim Robbins). That’s a lot of Oscars.

All that makes his cast selection of this new epic of his quite strange. Paul Walker and Ryan Phillippe? Here’s what the good folks over at ComingSoon have to say:

Paul Walker will star in Clint Eastwood’s World War II epic Flags of Our Fathers, says The Hollywood Reporter. He joins a cast that includes Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford and Adam Beach. The DreamWorks Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures co-production is based on the book “Flags of Our Fathers: Heroes of Iwo Jima,” by James Bradley with Ron Powers. Paul Haggis (Million Dollar Baby) adapted the book.

Ummm… yeah Paul Walker and Ryan Phillippe are both dreamy… but quite the major step down from the calibre of cast we’re accustomed to seeing Eastwood work with. Hey, Eastwood knows what he’s doing so I’ll just wait and see how this works out. I just thought it was curious and worth mentioning. Your thoughts?

As video games have become increasingly reliant on plot and story rather than just game play (still pretty shallow story lines… but appropriate for the genre), the roles of actors in the gaming industry has become increasingly important. Often now, when I watch a game review television show, one of the first few things they’ll mention is the performances of the “cast”.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) has just ratified a new contract between itself and the Gaming Industry that provides another regular stream of income for the acting community. The good folks over at ABC News give us this:

The new Interactive Media Agreement, which secured higher wages and increased benefits but no residuals (i.e. profit-sharing) for the SAG members who lend their voices and likenesses to video games, was approved by 81.2% of the members who voted on the contract.

The pact with such major video game producers as Electronic Arts and Activision takes effect Friday and runs through Dec. 31, 2008. The pact was jointly negotiated with the smaller American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which approved and adopted the contract in June.

This is really a win-win situation. There is now more work available for actors our there now (especially since it doesn’t look like the video game industry is going to slow down anytime soon), and the growing industry ensures itself the best possible “performances” for their game increasing their quality. The line between Hollywood and Gaming gets even thinner.

Wow, what a day for trailers and Nicolas Cage. Here he is in Ghost Rider.

The trailer is over at MovieWeb and needs Quicktime 7 to play (it works one hell of a lot better than WMP I can tell you), and I went in to watch this thinking poor man’s comic adaptation, and we know in this movie world right now that means particularly bad.

Well, I have to say, I think it looks rocking. Okay, yes I’ll give you clever editing and nothing really going on, but it worked with me. I’m flaming for this one. Something that especially caught my eye were the supporting cast. Sam Elliot who appears to be his friend is just superb on screen, one of those guys your eyes and ears are just drawn to. Then there’s Wes Bentley who just looks superb as a baddie…mind you who’s good in this movie…and finally I was struck by the awesome might of Peter Fondaas Mephisto.

Are excited about this now? I certainly am.

Here it is, the trailer for the Johnny Cash bipoic Walk the Line starring the superb talents of Joaquin Phoenix as the Cash himself.

Unfortunately, as it seems to be going nowadays since I’ve rebuilt my PC, any streaming video through Windows Media Player just appears as a series of disconnected frames - WMP you are useless - so I’ve not been able to watch this trailer properly, but the frames I’ve seen of it and the audio makes me hungry for this movie.

Pheonix is a great talent, and he needs much more exciting and meaty material to get into, hopefully this movie is just the start of it. Usual rules of the trailer from movies.com apply, and actually I’m starting to like this. I’ll post it, you guys review it.

It’s pretty fair to say that Andrew Niccol never got back to the stars that was The Truman Show or Gattaca. His latest movies have been much more schmooze and much less beef. (There’s a lot of meat references getting in my posts of late!).

Now I’m not sure which way Lord of War is going to go, but with the subject of gun running I don’t think that it will be too in the realms of love and romance, and more in the realms of Nicolas Cage at his best. Although Cage appears briefly in the trailer you can glimpse the voice and mannerisms of some of his best performances…all too short to make a hopeful stab in the dark even, but if these clips are anything to go by it could be a good one for Cage, and an interesting movie for Niccol.

Unfortunately or fortunately, depending how you look at it, it shows and tells all too little. Either we don’t know enough to want to see the movie, or we know too much. I’m thinking this is in the latter half of that statement, and I’m just not sure if I do want to go and watch this movie or not. As JoBlo said, serious or fun, you can’t really tell. The hype said one thing, the trailer says another. What do you think after seeing the trailer at Yahoo movies?

The marketing machine is kicking on now, despite the totaly hush during filming it looks like we’re going to be set for a constant dribble until release, or perhaps a flood. Although that’s really another game.

Over at Coming Soon they have the link to First4Figures who have some images of the creatures in the movie Doom, even of Rock trying to hang on while a rather large monster tries to drag him off.

I have to say they look quite good, add in the post production darkness and effects and I reckon they’ll look pretty horrendous…unless that is with all the post production and effects added in, in which case they’ll be pretty funny! Still, despite what people are saying I’m holding out hope that this will be a fun, popcorn, no brainer fighting movie.

I must admit seeing this trailer I thought that we’d seen the same story before and it just looked like a lot of movies before, mixing things like Top Gun and Firefox.

Yet I’ve just given the first three minutes and a further ten from the film a go over at MovieWeb, and I have to say that it’s rather good. The action is pretty cool with some very good effects in there. Yes, the script probably isn’t as strong as most, and there are still glaring similarities with other movies, but for those minutes I was pretty engrossed and I could feel the excitement rising.

Again I think this is one of these movies where you have to walk in realising what it is, an action flick, and judging by this glimpse I think the action is on full power. That’s something you can’t deny Rob Cohen, he can do action.

Have a look, if you want to I really don’t think there’s any spoilers in it, and report back.

Greetings folks. John here.

This announcement is a little late in coming, but better late never. On Sunday July 24, The Movie Blog turned 2 years old. Two years! Wow. When I wrote that first post about the marketing for Seabiscuit, I never imagined I’d still be doing this. I thought it would just be a fun hobby for a couple of months until I really got settled in after moving back to Ontario. But here we are… 24 months later… and I can honestly say I hope I’m doing this for at least another 5 years.

The Movie Blog gives me my outlet for my unstoppable urge just to talk about movies…. but it’s also a ton of fun to do because of the great discussion and insight left by you guys in your emails and comments.

So thanks to everyone of you who reads this site on a regular or not so regular basis… you’ve made these last 2 years a lot of fun. Here’s looking forward to more.

Cheers!

Wow, this surprised me a lot. Nicole Kidman is signed to lead in the new Body Snatchers movie according to Coming Soon.

Nicole Kidman is set to play the lead in Invasion, German director Oliver Hirschbiegel’s remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, reports Production Weekly.

The Warner Bros. release, written by Dave Kajganich, will center on Carol (Kidman) who uncovers a conspiracy in a small town where the inhabitants’ personalities seem to be changing.

Production on the new version will begin in October.

I don’t know, this film has been remade a lot and I really do think that in the previous versions they’ve managed to cover quite a few different angles and feelings in the world at the time. So what’s left? I’m not so sure that there is any feeling that this movie could capture right now, so it’s going to have to survive on a more entertaining level.

Blah, blah, blah. Let’s face it, Kidman has signed up and that means a lot in my book…then there’s always Bewitched or The Interpreter to think about.

What do you think? Has this sweetened the news of another remake of this movie, or have your views remained the same…and what are they?

I just know Stealth is going to suck and suck hard. Still check in on Monday morning for the Video Edition to see our review of it. Yeah I know it’s got Jamie Foxx in it… but I don’t care if you put Russell Crowe, Brad Pitt, Al Pacino and Anthony Hopkins in this film you know it’s still going to suck.

What looks like a mixture of 2001 and War Games thrown in with a dash of Top Gun wanabeeism for bad taste. The interesting thing is that of the 10 or 11 times I’ve seen this trailer in theaters, I haven’t once heard anyone in there say “oh that looks good”. Mostly I hear whispers of “you’ve got to be kidding me”. But time will tell. For now the critics are almost unanimously hating this film… sitting at around 85% Negative on Rottentomatoes right now. Here’s what some of them have to say:

“Reflects Cohen’s own aesthetic modus operandi of replacing all traces of humanity with digitized artificiality.”
Nicholas Schager, SLANT MAGAZINE

“The stars are asked to chew on the driest of technobabble, and to strike poses of flyboy and flygirl moxie that make them look callow rather than heroic.”
Owen Gleiberman, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

“An unholy combination of ‘Dr. Strangelove’ and ‘2001′ that manages to trash both those Kubrick masterpieces at once.”
Frank Swietek, ONE GUY’S OPINION

Are any of us surprised? Not me… and probably not you either. Not exactly the follow up to an Oscar winner film that Foxx was probably hoping for… but no one put a gun to his head to do this film. Once again, check our Video Edition Monday Morning to see our review of the film.

Right from the begining, Sky High sorta looked to me like a mix between Harry Potter and The Incredibles. Now, just one day away from it’s official release, it still looks like that to me… but only now it looks like it might be sorta fun.

I mean come on… any film with Kurt Russell, Bruce Campbell and a couple of guys from The Kids in the Hall has to at least be mildly entertaning right? I think the visual effeects look great and the potential for silly laughter seem pretty high. Make sure to check out the Video Edition on Monday morning to see our review. But for now, the critics are offering their opinions of the film… and for the most part they seem pretty positive (right now it’s sitting at about 70% positive). Here’s what some of them are saying:

“A lighthearted, albeit sanitized, teen movie that marries 1960s kitsch to 1980s angst with sharp one-liners, sight gags and a lunatic-fringe supporting cast of comedians.”
Nick Rogers, STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER (SPRINGFIELD, IL)

“Any time you can get the strong chins of Bruce Campbell and Kurt Russell in a movie together you should.”
Joshua Tyler, CINEMABLEND.COM

“A likable mix of laughs and wacky action sequences.”
Kirk Honeycutt, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

This all sounds pretty good to me and also right around what I was expecting. I’m NOT expecting much in the way of box office results for this film… but I think those that do go will be happy. We’ll see Monday morning.

How stupid can some people get?!?! I mean really! Are all the studio heads total morons?!?! Are they deliberately trying to drive people away from the theatres?!? This is total lunacy! So what am I bitching about? Take a look at this little bit of news from UPI:

National CineMedia has cut deals with 20th Century Fox, Universal and Sony studios that will mean more ads on U.S. movie screens.

National CineMedia is a joint venture that will provide movie theaters with 20 minutes of previews from the three studios as well as commercial advertising before the feature begins, Variety reported Wednesday. With a disappointing summer box office and flat ticket and concessions sales, studios are seeing the ad concept as a fast path to increased revenue, Variety said.

Film distributors, however, have voiced concern the ads will turn off the “captive audience,” Variety said. The 20-minute package will consist of 2 1/2 minute film previews and interviews book-ended by 30 second commercials.

Are they completely brain dead?!?! So let me get this straight… not as many people are going to the movies these days… so to fix the problem we’re going to piss off the audience even more with longer ad times? That’s their big master plan for bringing people back to the theatres?!?! Those fricking IDIOTS!

Look, I try not to get too worked up over stuff here on The Movie Blog. But this stroke of idiocy is just too much. Yeah, let’s fix the problem of people not coming to the theatres by driving more of them away… that should fix everything. How stupid can some people be?!?! I mean really?

You fix the problem by investing in it… not trying to rape it more. LOWER the prices… REDUCE the amount of ad times. Yes, it will hurt financially a bit now… but in the long run it will bring some of the people BACK to the movies instead of driving them out. Get a clue and wise up you fricken commandos of the moron brigade.

Ever since the Wonder Woman project was announced a LOT of names have flown around to fill the golden brassiere. Up until this point the one that I really saw playing the roll was Jessica Biel. She’s actually quite a competent actress, very attractive, and if nothing else showed us she can do action sequences quite well in Blade Trinity (oh what a horrible movie that was).

But now the name shooting around the web today is Kate Beckinsale. The buzz came from a small offhand comment Bechinsale made recently. The good folks over at The Hollywood News give us this:

Read into this one as you will, but British actress Kate Beckinsale, whose most famous role was in the hit movie UNDERWORLD, is said to be in talks to play WONDER WOMAN in the movie of the same name. She apparently told IOL.com, “I dressed up as her last Hallowe’en so it would be good to do it again.”

Ok, now that’s hardly an authoritative endorsement… but it’s enough to get the rumor mills churning… and why not? Beckinsale would be fantastic in this roll. An even better actress than Biel (See The Aviator), even better looking than Biel (although that’s no knock against Biel) and has loads of action oriented experience. She also wouldn’t have a problem filling out that brassiere.

Ok, but what really makes me dwell on this one is that Beckinsale reminds me a lot of other female arch types Josh Whedon has worked with before. I can easily see Kate Beckinsale fitting into that mold. So there you have it… hardly authoritative news… but an nice rumor to think about.

How does one spell delicious? Some spell it “Ice Cream”. Others spell it “candy”. I prefer to spell it “Claire Forlani“. This girls has one of the most stunning set of eyes you are ever going to see… anywhere. Oh yeah, the rest of her ain’t that bad either. Mere mortals shouldn’t be allowed to look as hot as she did in Mystery Men. Sigh… getting back on topic…

Claire Forlani has just signed up for the latest Uwe Boll atrocities… Dungeon Siege. The good folks over at Coming Soon give us this little run down:

The Hollywood Reporter says Forlani will play Solana, wife of the film’s hero, Farmer, played by Jason Statham. Forlani has appeared in such films as Mystery Men, Meet Joe Black and the upcoming Green Street Hooligans.

Originally released in the United States on April 5, 2002, “Dungeon Siege” is an action/fantasy role-playing game (RPG) designed by Chris Taylor, president and creative director of Gas Powered Games. Published by Microsoft Game Studios, “Dungeon Siege” features a fantasy world where the inhabitants must battle evil forces attempting to take over their kingdom.

I’ll leave the big “How the hell does Uwe Boll keep getting director job?” question for another post… a long angry post. But for now all I’ll say is that I’ll probably see this film if for no other reason that to stare at a particular member of the cast. I’m so lonely.

Aeon Flux fans have been pretty upset by everything they’ve been seeing coming from the new film so far. They don’t like the casting (I do), they don’t like the look (I do)… and in that vien I’m sure they won’t like the new posters that have come out either (but I do).

Here’s a synopsis of the story from the official site:

Aeon Flux is set 400 years in the future, when disease has wiped out the majority of the earth’s population except for one walled, protected city-state, Bregna, ruled by a congress of scientists. The story centres on Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron), the top operative in the underground “Monican” rebellion - led by The Handler (Frances McDormand). When Aeon is sent on a mission to kill o government leader, she uncovers a world of secrets.

Personally I think this project shows a lot of promies. And hell, I’m up for seeing anything with Charlize Theron in a tight black body suit. To see higher quality versions of the posters you an go here.

Considering the last time Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott teamed up it got Scott a Best Picture Oscar and Russell Crowe a Best Actor Oscar, them getting together again may not be such a bad idea, especially since both of them are coming off HUGE disappointments (Kingdom of Heaven for Scott and Cinderella Man for Crowe).

So now the word is that Russell Crowe will be hooking up with Scott’s new project “A Good Year”. The wonderful folks over at Empire give us this little synopsis of the project:

Crowe would be playing the lead, Max Skinner, a London investment banker who is made redundant by his company and left with a sudden hole in his life. As fate would have it, he has recently been left an 18th century chateau and vineyard in the south of France by his deceased uncle. He moves out to take possession of the estate, where he used to spend his summers as a child, but discovers that his wine leaves much to be desired, that his long-lost American cousin wants a share of the action, and that some of the villagers are less than thrilled to see him.

Yeah sign me up. Scott is a good director, and despite the fact that he constantly acts like a total Jack Ass, Russell Crowe just may be the very best actor breathing today. So yeah, I’ll see this thing. Just keep all the phones away from Crowe and everything should run smoothly.

X-Men 3 continues to be in total disarray. Losing 2 directors, ridiculous plot leaks, the loss of Nightcrawler, over casting and now to add to all of that casting a character just 3 days before the character’s scenes are supposed to start shooting. Has any GOOD new come out for X-Men 3 yet?

At any rate, it is being report all over the place today that Ellen Page has signed up to play Kitty Pride, the mutant with abilities to walk through walls and other intangible stuff like that (Some Canadian fans may recognize her from Trailer Park Boys). The good folks over at Empire give us the following:

[Kitty Pride had] appeared, in small cameos, in both previous X-Men movies, played by Sumela Kay and Katie Stuart. Page is almost totally unknown in this country, having appeared in Sundance entry Hard Candy (not yet released here), and such previous films as, er, I Downloaded A Ghost and Wilby Wonderful.

Presumably Kitty’s role is going to be bumped up a little this time, but to what end, we don’t yet know. In the comics she has a, ahem, close friendship with Colossus, the steel-skinned mutant who appeared briefly but memorably during the school invasion scenes in X2, but we can’t say for sure yet if that romantic subplot will get a look-in in the film.

Now don’t get me wrong here folks. I’m not saying I have any problem with this kid being cast to play Kitty. My problem is that this project is such a mess that we’re getting casting news days before shooting. Isa that totally uncommon? No, it isn’t. But when you look at all the other chaos surrounding X-Men 3 so far, it’s just another glitch to add to the pile… a pile that is already too high and sinking my expectations for this film faster than a mutant titanic. Here’s hoping they can pull this together.

John has said this before, and I’m more than happy to pick up the torch and say it too. Stunt-people do not get enough recognition. Actually, they get next to none. They are a huge part of what makes your favourite action scene look great, or even scenes that you wouldn’t think a stunt double was needed, or where you think that CGI is used, you just might see them there and not know it.

Like Tom Welling’s stunt double Chris Savour from the TV series Smallville. According to IMDB, he’s currently fighting for his life after a scene went wrong.

Smallville star Tom Welling’s stunt double Chris Sayour is fighting for his life in a Vancouver, Canada hospital after falling from a tower while filming a scene Tuesday. The veteran stunt coordinator accidentally fell almost 40 feet, according to police reports. Sayour, 35, was airlifted to hospital in New Westminster and treated for “multiple fractures and internal injuries,” according to a statement. In a statement from the WB network behind the Superman series, bosses write, “Our thoughts and prayers are with Christopher and his family during this difficult time and we wish him a full recovery.” Production was halted yesterday after the accident. It was expected to resume yesterday.

The amazing thing about these people is that when they are hurt they often just carry on, or pretend that nothing is wrong until they get off set just so the movie can continue. See the Oldboy audio commentary for an example where the stunt double was badly hurt, walked off set saying nothing and retired from stunt work immediately after due to injury. Or check out the many stories from Jackie Chan’s stunt team. Their main priority is to give the movie a great stunt scene, make sure no one is hurt, and even if they are to get off set and let the filming continue.

As said before, these people deserve awards and accolades, and I’m sure I speak for us all when I say our thoughts are with Savour and his family and friends.

It’s funny, and I’m not singling out Twitch here for their comments in their story as they are more select in their viewing, but a lot of sites are blasting the trailer for Doom and now the zipped trailer for Bloodrayne for just their original material, involved people and the trailer itself.

Actually saying that I kinda get their point, but there’s something here about giving a movie a chance and also reviewing it in context. These films are not Citizen Kane, they are adapated from games where you run around killing everything, games that even in the game genre have the weakest of plots. Is it therefore unfair to start expecting something deep or intelligent from it? Well, yes. Especially with the likes of Uwe Boll at the helm.

It’s blood, gore, shooting, shouting and posturing. It’s popcorn entertainment, just as Fantastic Four was. Despite that I saw one reviewer giving that one star out of five, which I think is totally misrepresenting the movie.

So, settle back, watch that trailer (once you’ve downloaded and unzipped it) and watch it for what it is. Popcorn entertainment with shatterings of blood and gore.

Still, I’m realistic. Boll hasn’t produced anything entertaining for me, so I doubt this will be! Same deal today, I’m at work and haven’t seen it, so you guys can review it below.

The story aspect of video games are getting better and better, and the popularity of video games gets bigger and bigger. The trend of video game to movie adaptations keeps steaming along as well so it should come as no surprise that possibly the best video game in the last 2 years is probably getting a film treatment done. God Of War.

Universal Pictures has snagged up the rights to the project and Alex Gartner will produce it. Don’t know what God Of War is about? Here’s a quick synopsis for ya:

In the game, players can unleash the power of the Gods and embark on a merciless quest as Kratos, an ex-Spartan warrior driven to destroy Ares, the God of War. Armed with lethal double chainblades, Kratos must carve through mythology’s darkest creatures— including Medusa, Cyclops, the Hydra and more, while solving intricate puzzles in breathtaking environments. Driven by pure revenge, nothing can stop Kratos from achieving absolution.

No writer or director has been assigned to the project yet… but considering Universal likes to strike while the iron is hot, you can probably expect an announcement pretty soon. God Of War… that’s actually a great title for a film.

…and despite me living only a few miles away it looks like I’ll get nowhere near it! According to many sources, I’ll cite the BBC on this one, The Da Vinci Code is coming to Rosslyn Chapel, one of the main UK locations in the book.

Rosslyn Chapel is steeped in history. When the Knights Templar were dropped as the Pope’s army and hunted down by his troops, some of them escaped to Scotland. At that time Scotland was excommunicated from the Church and it seemed a safe, and close, place to go. The Templars allegedy took with them a secret which allowed them great power over the Church, some say it was the Holy Grail itself, and they took it with them to Scotland and hid it there, forming the Masons in the process.

Rosslyn is supposed to be one of the first places that the Templars settled in, and the Chapel is alleged to have secret chambers beneath it which have never been opened. It also features some amazing architecture, some of which depicts a journey to the new world (the Americas) well before Christopher Columbus. Rosslyn certainly does keep it’s fair share of secrets…and this movie is one of them!

I’ve tried for months with the Director of the Chapel, tried to hunt down the Production Company contacts, and even tried through Scottish Screen, who are allegedly responsible for attracting films to Scotland and advertising them. Nothing. Not a sausage. No one can help us. Great job Scottish Screen. Here I am an Edinburgh resident able to tell our readers how great Rosslyn, Edinburgh and Scotland is, and nothing. Bum. Anyway, the point of the story!

Trustees spokesman Stuart Beattie said: “The chapel has long been a popular destination for hundreds of years.”…”There are many stories in Rosslyn’s long history and I’m sure the chapel will make a superb backdrop for this particular one.”…The chapel will close for the filming between 26 and 29 September…

It’s a superb location, and certainly a great addition for the movie considering it’s importance.

I just love Bill Paxton. His character in Aliens and True Lies are a couple of the best and funniest “supporting” characters I’ve seen in a long time… and you just get the feeling that only Bill Paxton could make those characters work.

Having said that, I just haven’t been able to buy him in a leading roll yet. It’s almost like he’s out of place. When I heard he had the leading roll in Twister, I thought that it would be his break out film… but it clearly wasn’t. Not to mention he wasn’t very good in Thunderbirds (even though I liked it more than most people did… which still isn’t saying much).

But it looks like Paxton may be the leading man again. In a recent interview Ron Howard let it slip that he actually wanted Paxton for the roll of Robert Langdon in The Da Vinci Code, but that Paxton couldn’t do it because he was already committed to the Creature From the Black Lagoon.

Interesting. I loved the original. It was so bad… that you had to love it. I hoe they keep the good cheese level to this new film. If you try to make it like a serious horror film, it’ll just become a joke. Otherwise I think it could be a lot of fun.

The first time I ever saw Djimon Hounsou was in (what I say is) the best Steven Spielberg film ever made… Amistad. Playing the leader of a slave ship rebellion, Hounsou captivated you every moment he was on the screen.

Even in Gladiator, or In America (which he was nominated for an Oscar for), the man has a pure power of presence that I haven’t seen since Sean Connery. He’s just great in everything I’ve seen him in… he’s even good in The Island.

Anyway, CNN has a really good article on Hounsou that is really worth the read. Here’s an excerpt:

Hounsou has been working regularly in recent years on both the big and small screens, with notable story arcs on “ER” and “Alias” and appearing in such films as 2003’s “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life” with Angelina Jolie and with Laurence Fishburne in “Biker Boyz.” Earlier this year, he co-starred in “Constantine” with Keanu Reeves and as Queen Latifah’s love interest “Beauty Shop.”

“Baby steps,” he says of his career moves. “No matter how you look at it, we’re minorities in the Hollywood world, and you still have so much to work for, and we don’t necessarily have the luxury of making mistakes. With us there’s stakes in mistakes, so you have to play your cards and be patient.”

This guy is 100% leading man material. All he needs is the right script and a director ready to allow him to make that step and I think you’ve got a serious major career. Just my opinion anyway. Go over and give that article a read.

The movement to Digital film and fully digital theaters has been inevitable. Being digital is easier, cheaper (ultimatly) and more efficent for ditributing since it can be done over satellite or the internet.

However, as good of an idea as it is… the transition to digital will not be a cheap one up front. The good folks over at M&C put it this way:

However, the deal — which it took the industry three years to work out — fails to address who will pay for the digital equipment all theaters would have to substitute for their projection systems.

Industry analysts estimate digital projectors will cost about $75,000 each, plus theaters will need equipment capable of receiving the films delivered by Internet or satellite. Theaters want the studios to pay for the transition to digital, while the studios say the theaters should pay

This will be sticky, and honestly I don’t have an opinion yet one way or the other who should be footing the bill for the swich to digital. An argument could be made either way. What are your thoughts?

In a post yesterday (which you can see here to get caught up) we mentioned the upcoming Paul Bernardo - Karla Homolka story to film called “Deadly”, which has officially changed it’s name to “Karla”.

Obviously, in this country (Canada) a lot of people are upset that this film even got made. Now, it looks like there may be an effort to block the film in this country under child pornography laws by the lawyer representing the victims of Bernardo and Homolka. The good folks at The Globe and Mail give us this:

Tim Danson, lawyer for the families of victims Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, said yesterday that the producer “assures me that all my concerns have been met. And I simply said, meaning no disrespect, but I have to see it.”

Mr. Danson added that he was surprised by the announcement on Monday that the Montreal festival will show the film, and particularly that its title had been changed to Karla. He called the name change a means of boosting its appeal to the U.S. market.

I still feel very uneasy about this. I think the film should be shown, because movies are stories, and I think this horrible story needs to be told. On the other hand… can ANY of us blame the families of the victims for wanting to get this thing banned? Wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t I?

I can’t believe it. Since I started cycling to work I leave too early to do stories in the morning, so I get into work, cram a few in and get on with the day…that means I can’t really sit and watch trailers, it’s that kind of office. Still, it’s not going to stop me posting this and asking all you guys to review it for us.

The trailer for Doom is on the Internut! So here’s the deal. Click the link for the trailer which is at IGN FIlm Force through FilmRot, watch it, think about it for a few moments, and come back here to post your review of it.

Here’s what FilmRot had to say as the synopsis…

Guys in lab coats are doing experiments when something goes wrong and a bunch of people die. Some military types are called in to take control of the situation when they find that something evil is killing everybody. More death ensues, stuff jumps out at you, the end…Oh wait, that was the plot of Resident Evil.

Oh dear. It’s killing me. Quick everyone, get over there and post your review now!

There are few things as fun as a good creepy horror movie. Now, having said that there haven’t been many of them of late. But The Fog looks promising. A remake of sorts of the 1980 John Carpenter film told in a slightly different setting.

Fans of Smallville will be happy to see Tom Welling get his first Major leading role in a film (even if it’s not as Superman… which I think is a good thing). He looks pretty comfortable in the trailer… but it’s hard not to look at him and just see young Clark Kent, but I’m sure we’ll get over that 10 minutes into the movie.

The IMDB gives us this little synopsis of The Fog:

Exactly one hundred years ago, off the rocky shore of an isolated Northern California town, a ship of lepers was horribly wrecked in an eerie fog when the founders of the town purposefully misguided the ship, dooming everyone aboard. Now, tonight, the ghosts of the long-dead mariners have returned from their watery graves to exact revenge. Shrouded within a supernatural fog, the ghosts trap the residents of the remote community, intent on seeking out the descendents of those who founded the town…and killing anyone who stands in their murderous path.

The trailer look good at this point (but then again, that’s what they’re supposed to do). I’m looking forward to it. If you want to catch the trailer you can click here.

Well, here comes another non-Pixar 3D animated film… and this one doesn’t look so good. Happily N’Ever After is the name of the new flick with a HUGE collection of recognizable voices like Sigourney Weaver, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., George Carlin, Michael McShane, Patrick Warburton and Andy Dick. Will that make it good? I doubt it.

However, the concept of the film does sound interesting. The film is based on the classic Grimm Brothers fairy tales and looks at that world if the balance of good and evil were tipped in the wrong direction. Like I said, the IDEA sounds promising. But didn’t Shrek already do the whole “playing around with the fairy tale” thing? Not to mention, the animation looks like it belongs on Saturday morning TV… in 2002.

But enough of that… go take a look at the trailer for yourselves and let me know what you think of it.

Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving go from High Elder Elves in Lord of the Rings to lower class, almost middle aged urbanities struggling with a reality that has them feeling lost, failed and alone. Wow… that almost sounded dramatic.

Little Fish has the look of one of those really powerful films that makes you look at your own life and wonder what the hell went wrong. Not exactly Saturday afternoon fun at the theatre, but good moviemaking nontheless. The good folks over at MovieWeb give us this synopsis:

How do you learn to love again when the pain of the past won’t let you go? When you’re 32 with a troubled history and a doubtful future, it’s a question that isn’t so easy to answer. And for Tracy Heart (Cate Blanchett), it’s a question she can no longer ignore. After four years of treading water and redeeming herself in the eyes of her hard-working single mother, she has set herself the humble goal of owning her own business.

But the unexpected return of her ex-boyfriend Jonny (Dustin Nguyen), the criminal aspirations of her brother Ray (Martin Henderson) and the emotional draw of troubled family friend and ex-footy star Lionel Dawson (Hugo Weaving), creates friction for Tracy. Her dream soon becomes tangled with criminal boss, Bradley “The Jockey” Thompson (Sam Neill) with shattering consequences. As a result, Tracy’s bond of trust with her mother Janelle (Noni Hazlehurst) is tested and she has to confront her fears to find happiness. A story about families. About lies. And about learning to love again.

This is a solid cast of Actors with what looks like strong narative and a feeling of brutal reality that probably too many of us can relate with. I’m looking forward to this one.

You can go to the official site to see the trailer… just make sure to turn off the STUPID ANNOYING background noise/music the site has playing before watching the trailer.

I generally like Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson and Laura Dern so it stands to reason that I’d be interested in anything starring the three of them. Add to that the fact that I’m something of a sucker for “true stories” (although in recent years Ron Howard has taken some liberties with that term). Put all them together and you’ve got The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (I can’t remember the last time I saw a comma in a movie title).

Here’s the synopsis of the film:

Evelyn Ryan (Julianne Moore) is a devoted housewife and mother of ten in the 1950s. Her husband (Woody Harrelson) can’t seem to make ends meet, but that doesn’t stop the car from breaking down, the mortgage coming due and the bills from piling up. It falls to Evelyn to defy the conventions of the day and find a way to keep her family together with the odds stacked against them. Applying her remarkable resourcefulness and an uncommon wit, Evelyn finds her own way in the profitable jingle contests popular in the 1950s and ‘60s.

I gave the trailer a look over and it looks pretty good, even if it tastes a little like the standard 50’s-60’s hard times formula… it still worked for me. If you want to take a peak at it yourself, just head over here.

I’m a big fan of Lucy Liu, and not just from the days of Ally McBeal, but from such films as Payback and Cypher. She’s a talented actress that just hasn’t seemed to get a good enough role for her talents yet, and I’m not sure this new project will help, although it certainly has a lot of potential.

From Coming Soon there’s news that she’s going to be reviving the Charlie Chan series as the lead of the franchise.

TV executive-turned-screenwriter Dan McDermott will write an updated version of Charlie Chan for 20th Century Fox, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Producer Jennifer Klein also has joined the long-gestating project, which centers on the granddaughter of the fictional Chinese-American detective. Lucy Liu is attached to star and executive produce.

“It’s a reinvention of the franchise that credibly passes on the baton to Lucy Liu as the lead character and lead of the franchise,” McDermott said.

What do you think of this, has it got potential for her, or is it a bit of typecasting and perhaps not what she should be looking at doing? Mind you her current list of movies in production is quite long and diverse. Thoughts on Lucy Liu?

When I first reported that Kevin Spacey was going to be playing Lex Luthor in the new Superman Returns film, I was just about doing backflips. Who would be better to play Superman’s nemeses? I submit NO ONE.

Well, now the good folks over at Cinema Blend have posted up some of the first shots of Spacey as Lex Luthor. They’re not actually production photos, but rather shots taken on set. Still… seeing these pictures really makes the whole thing finally seem real. Here what Blend had to say:

It kinda saddens me that there is so much misplaced ill-will being thrown out towards the new Superman Returns movie. If it’s not someone bitching that Brandon Routh “looks too young” despite being only 2 years younger than Reeve at the time of Superman II, it’s the disgruntled X-Men fans who are determined just to hate it because of some melodramatic sense of betrayal over X-Men 3.

The truth is Superman Returns is shaping up nicely, far better than anyone could possibly have hoped given the project’s troubled past and far better I’d wager than if we had Nic “Nervous Tic” Cage in the role with Tim “Lost my edge” Burton in the hotseat.

So get on over there to take a look at the pictures… then return here to tell us what you think of them. Are you getting excited yet about the film? Or do you think it’s a big mistake?

Voltron the Movie is coming! Voltron! Haha… I swear this is the best. Seeing all these cartoons I used to watch as a kid (Transformers, Smurfs and now Voltron) back in the lime light almost feels like it justifies my childhood. (Yeah… I know… that’s sad).

Voltron is of course the 5 giant robotic lions who are piloted by humans, that join up together to form the even more giant robots named… you guessed it… VOLTRON!

The good folks over at Empire give us this:

Along with Gordon, Pharrell Williams, Mark Costa and Ford Oelman will front up for producing duties, and while not so much as a screenwriter has yet been mentioned, there is confirmation that the plot will follow five ‘maverick pilots’ who travel to the planet Arus, and learn how to operate the whole shebang. There’ll most likely be a supervillain or an alien threat in there too, but details for the moment are scarce. The business question also remains - will this go up against Transformers’ summer 2007 slot, and since Masters Of The Universe rights are already owned, what’s left, dammit? Jem?!

Don’t get me wrong, The Transformers would kick the hell outta Voltron (I’m reverting to a 13 year old here), but I’m still tickled that this thing is being made. The best part about it (like the Transformers) is that it doesn’t even have to be all that good. Script?!?! Who cares about the script? It’s not like the show had great dialouge or plots (most of the time the Transformers were just fighting over Energon Cubes anyway). No… all we need from Voltron or the Transformers is wicked looking robots, big explosions, lots (and I do mean LOTS) of action and some big cities getting demolished from the giant battles. Do that… and we’ll be happy. How hard can that be?

Movie Marketing is a great whore. But hey… it pays the bills. The upcoming King Kong has LOADS of marketing potential, and it seems they’re not just looking at toys for tots either.

According to the official website for the King Kong film, they’re getting ready to launch a King Kong Credit Card for your spending pleasure. Here’s the word straight from the official site’s mouth:

Commemorating the theatrical release of King Kong, Universal and Chase are launching the King Kong Limited Edition Universal Entertainment Master Card, available beginning October 1, 2005. The new card, an illustration of Kong on the the front, depicting a poignant moment on Skull Island, is the ultimate design for fans eagerly awaiting the release of the movie.

I’m sorry… but you have to be pretty DAMN excited about a film to have to see it’s picture on your credit card. Well… who am I so speak? I had “Star Wars on everything from my blankets to my underwear (still do).

Recently Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed the final episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation called Grave Danger. The episode was superb, and very much away from the styles we’ve come to associate with him as a writer\director.

It was slow, suspenseful and very dramatic. You could feel the story being held back and reigned in at every step, and it made for some truly edge of your seat television. There was only one scene where he began to indulge himself, and to be honest it was well placed and did not interrupt the flow, it made it more exciting.

Not only was his directing spot on, but he pulled some superb performances out of the cast, in particular George Eads as Nick, the man who the episode piles on. An excellent show with an amazing series climax. Yet it’s not ending there, not according to CSI Files:

When CSI: Crime Scene Investigation returns from its summer break in late September, the CSIs will work on two challenging cases involving an explosion in a trailer park and a beautiful girl who is found dead on the street…

…Where is Gil Grissom in all this?…Grissom has Archie analyze the tape that Walter Gordon left with Nick in his coffin, and they make the surprising discovery that Walter wasn’t alone when he recorded the tape. Grissom asks Archie to keep this under the hood for now, but undoubtedly the investigation will continue for several episodes to come.

So the Tarantino storyline is to carry on throughout the series with the surprise news that there was another person involved in the killing. Okay, it’s early script drafts and rumour, but if anyone who saw it would testify, it’s going to be a good plot to follow.

Not only that, but recent news suggests that Tarantino might turn more to TV. His material is getting longer (like my posts) as in Kill Bill, and it’s more suited to TV. It is said he liked the idea of making a series more than being restricted to the shortened time of a movie. Tarantino to TV? A good idea?

Despite all the bad news and the departure of Bryan Singer, I’m still looking forward to X-Men 3. Yes, the X-Men franchise is probably about to take a turn to suckville… but I’m still excited about seeing it.

Having said that, the wheels appear to be fully in motion as shooting has begun for the 3rd installment of the X-Men saga. The good folks over at SuperHeroHype give us this:

The official New Zealand website for director Brett Ratner’s X-Men 3 has already come online, however some of their cast and crew info is old and has changed. Just click the link to check it out.

Also, scooper ‘Corvalis’ sent us these first two pictures of second unit shooting for X-Men 3 that took place on Sunday, July 24th in San Francisco. The shoot involved a crew of 15-20 members and involved a shot of a camera looking towards Alcatraz.

The 2 pictures he’s referring to are just of a couple of camera crews.. .but still it’s good news. I have to admit that for a little while there I was starting to doubt this film was even going to get made at all. Heck… I still have my doubts. I still half expect Fox or Marvel to pull the plug on this thing. Here’s hoping it keeps rolling.